19. Instincts

(34/100, give some powerstones)

"Well, what's next?" Miyuki urged him to continue.

"Are you a black hole? Because I can't escape your gravitational pull… and I don't even want to!" Yukio said while changing his facial expression.

"Damn, if I didn't know you were acting, I might blush," Miyuki replied.

"Tch, I was already expecting you to blush. Jeez, I guess I'll go with my ultimate attack." Yukio clicked his tongue and took a deep breath.

"Woah, I can feel the temperature rising here," Kakashi said, looking at both of them.

"Yeah, obviously you could, you're doing fire nature transformation," Miyuki deadpanned at Kakashi.

"Do you believe in parallel universes? Because somewhere out there, we're already on a date," Yukio said, closing the distance and putting on a sad expression.

Miyuki's face was blank.

She looked at him and... kicked him in the balls.

"Fuck, that hurts. Damn, my luck, I shouldn't have taken out that diary in the first place," Yukio said, clutching his private parts while rolling on the ground.

"I wonder about that," Kakashi whistled while looking at Miyuki, who had turned around.

***

"So? Did I lose?" Yumi found herself waking up in an unknown room.

"Yeah."

"Where am I?"

"In my new house."

"Why not the old house?" Yumi got up from the bed and stretched her body.

"Well, it would be cramped, plus it's not ideal for a kid like you," Yukio said while lying on the couch without looking up.

Yumi went to the dining table and took out a knife.

She threw it at Yukio, who was defenseless on the couch, with a blindfold over his face.

His hand shot up in front of his face, and he caught the knife with just two fingers without moving any other part of his body.

He then threw it back with double the speed, so fast that Yumi couldn't dodge, and the back of the knife hit her forehead.

"Ouch! How did you do that?"

"By throwing, duh," his tone implies he is stating the obvious.

"I know that! I meant how did you catch that and throw it without even looking at it? I don't think it's instinct," she said, clearly annoyed.

"It's instinct, girl. It doesn't come in a day; it takes time, I guess."

"Then teach me how to do it!" she demanded.

"Fine," he said, making a cross shape with one finger from each hand.

"Follow me," the Shadow Clone said while touching the blindfold on his head, puffing out in smoke.

"Woah, is that the fabled Shadow Clone Jutsu? Now that I'm under you, I'll learn that too!" she grinned.

"Yeah, you'll learn a lot of new things. We also share the same affinities," the shadow clone smirked.

"Can you do a body flicker?" he asked.

"Not properly."

"Hmm, it'll be fine then," he said while placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Wait, nooo—" Her face was definitely not elegant as she said that, while moving at speeds her eyes couldn't follow.

A few minutes later...

He removed his hand, and she dropped to the ground.

"Blegh—" She vomited as soon as she hit the ground.

"You didn't even give a warning! That was brutal. Now I'm all dirty," she said, looking at the vomit that stuck to her clothes.

"Jeez, that question itself was a warning. Expect the unexpected from me," he said, weaving hand signs and spewing water that washed over her.

She definitely didn't like having water poured over her when her mouth was open.

She coughed out some water. "I will *really* kill you," she said, with all the venom she could muster in her words.

"Yeah, that's why I'm teaching you. Let's go."

"Hmph... Wait, why am I not wet?" Yumi was shocked as she looked at her body, realizing that even though she'd been soaked, there was no water on her clothes or body.

"You haven't really seen the peak of water release, have you?" He asked her another question instead.

"Hmph, I've seen it! My father reached the peak in ice release, or somewhat. So, he should be considered the peak in water and wind too, right?" she said proudly.

However, just remembering her father made her heart hurt.

"Hmm, yeah, he was probably really at the peak with ice, but not with water. Being at the peak of a kekkei-genkai doesn't necessarily mean mastering the individual elements," Yukio ignored the emotions she was clearly feeling.

"Wait, really?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah, combining one thing is different from refining it. Ice would be considered separate from wind and water," Yukio said, walking in a particular direction.

"I see... Where are we again?" she nodded. She didn't have any way to contradict what Yukio said, so she'd assume it was true for now.

"Anbu quarters."

"Wait, why are we here? Aren't they a secretive bunch or something? Are you an Anbu? Also, are you bringing me here to torture me or something?" Even while saying that, Yumi wasn't scared.

Talk about bravery or... foolishness?

"Didn't you ask me to help train your instincts? Yeah, Anbu is secretive, and I used to be one, kinda. Not these days. Nah, I have other methods to extract information from you," he answered all her questions in one breath.

"Oh, if you're not Anbu, are you even allowed to be here? Using their training rooms just like that?" Yumi was surprised Yukio was actually serious about training her, to the point of bringing her where the Anbu trained.

"No one will stop me," Yukio said confidently.

"Hmm, you're not supposed to be here," a cat-masked Anbu flickered in front of Yukio.

"Pfft," Yumi laughed.

"Right, I forgot. I usually come here alone, so nobody detects I'm here," Yukio said to both of them.

He was indirectly implying that the Anbu's skills were lax if they couldn't even detect him.

"Entering without permission isn't allowed. Unfortunately, I have to detain—" She was cut off by Yukio placing his hand on her head.

"Woah, you've really grown since the last time I saw you. How's Team Ro doing?"

"Senpai, you're not supposed to reveal my identity like that! Also, I'm not a kid anymore." She blushed, swatting his hand away.

"You're a kid from any angle I see you. Anyway, just report this to the old man. If he has any problems, he can contact me directly. And work on your awareness. I could've killed you when I put my hand on your head," he patted her head again without her knowing and walked past her, Yumi following behind.

"I'm definitely gonna beat you up next time I see you!" Yugao yelled before flickering away.

"Woah, it seems you're not liked by anyone," Yumi whistled with a sly smile.

"Well, when you're just this good, people get jealous."

"That's definitely narcissistic," she clicked her tongue.

"We're here," he said, opening the door.

She followed behind him.

"So, what are we gonna do?" she asked curiously, looking around the white room.

It was glaringly white, making her eyes take time to adjust.

Thankfully, it was just white paint and not white lights.

Otherwise, she'd have had to close her eyes.

"We're gonna dodge balls. Right now," he said, tilting his head.

A rubber ball zipped past him and hit Yumi right in the face.

"Ouch!" she said, rubbing her forehead for the second time in less than an hour.

"Wait, how am I supposed to dodge—" she dived to avoid another ball—"this many balls? They hurt when they hit!"

"Pain is a good motivator for your body, both physically and mentally, to develop the right instincts. So, prepare yourself." Yukio hadn't even moved from his position while dodging the balls.

"I'm definitely gonna kill you. Mark my words."

"Don't bark like a dog that only barks but doesn't bite."

"Let me bite you, then!" She lunged at Yukio.

However, in mid-air, another rubber ball hit her in the gut.

"Ouch."

"Okay, start by using your eyes."

"I *am* using my eyes! How else am I supposed to dodge?"

"Just focus on your eyes and no other senses for now. We'll deal with the rest later."

"Wait, but isn't that counterproductive? Don't we need to use all our senses?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is, but we'll get to the other senses soon. We need a base to start with, and that base is focusing on your eyes. You need to efficiently use your peripheral vision."

"Fine, I'm going to master this," she said, determined.

"Ouch, maybe we could do this after learning some new jutsu?"

"Nah, you need to learn this first. It's a good starting point," he shrugged.

***

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